Video: Using favorite tags to call clips into action

We use rating systems all the time for movies, books, apps, even images in iPhoto. These ratings allow us to respond to something we like or don't like. In Final Cut Pro, ratings go a step further. They're not passive, they are a call to action to begin editing your story. You may not feel ready just yet, but this pre-editing stage is a great way to begin thinking about how you might want to use your clips. Your thumbs up and thumbs down options are right here in your toolbar.

Dive into narrative with Diana Weynand, as she shares a comprehensive method for finding, crafting, and developing a compelling story in Apple Final Cut Pro X. The course also covers key concepts such as building a primary storyline, evaluating content and pacing, trimming distracting clips, creating different story versions, and storyboarding. The course also explores how to capture and organize media, incorporate B-roll cutaways, apply the Ken Burns effect to still images, re-time music and clips, and add finishing touches.

Using favorite tags to call clips into action

We use rating systems all the time for movies, books, apps, even imagesin iPhoto.These ratings allow us to respond to something we like or don't like.In Final Cut Pro, ratings go a step further.They're not passive, they are a call to action to begin editing your story.You may not feel ready just yet, but this pre-editing stage is a great way tobegin thinking about how you might want to use your clips.Your thumbs up and thumbs down options are right here in your toolbar.

Remember the green is for favorites, the red is to reject a portion of aclip, and the middle one will undo something that you've done, it'll remove anyrating system.Well, sometimes it's easier to reject something or to be sure about what youdon't want than what you do.So let's start with an easy one to warm-up.We'll choose VO_07 and we'll listen to this clip.(Audio Playing)Now, it might be easier to look at these clips in this List View, so that we cansee it spread out a little bit more.

(Audio Playing) Narrator: of fair trade wages.The farmers of Delicious Peace Coffee Co-op are a testament to this mutually beneficial relationshipwhich they've enhanced by adding the requirement of peace. Let me try that one again.Diana Weynand: So a great way to start the process of editing is to just make thesesimple decisions.I don't need that last part when the narrator said, let me try it again.So just simply drag a selection over it and reject it by clicking the redReject button.

We also don't want that first part, so select it, and this time I'll just hitthe Delete button and it creates the same effect.So now what we can do, if we click on our filter and say hide the rejectedportions of clips, or rejected clips, and listen to this clip.(Audio Playing) Narrator: The farmers of Delicious Peace CoffeeCo-op are a testament to this mutually beneficial relationship which they've enhancedby adding the requirement of peace.Diana Weynand: Now, when you reject the portions of a clip that you know you don't want, thatyou know are not usable, it gives you a clip that's ready to edit, it's readyto go.

You don't have to mark ins and outs later, you can just drop it intothe timeline as is.Let's look at another clip.Let's listen to VO_09.(Audio Playing) Narrator: (clears throat) In the global world(clears throat) excuse me.In the global world of commodities, coffee takes second place only to petroleum.Diana Weynand: Well, this sound bite is great, but we don't want what came before and we don'tneed that little bit after.So let's reject that portion.Again, select the portion you don't want, and because we're filtering by hidingthe rejected portions, it automatically hides and goes away.

So all that we're seeing now is the portion of this clip that we might wantto use.So rejecting is a way to help us get to the meat of the clip, the portion of theclip that you want to use.Now, this has been fairly easy because there have been mistakes or do-overs.If you go to the Coffee Growing clips and apply the same approach, you'll findthat it actually gets easier the more you do it.For example, this particular clip shows a woman grinding coffee, but when youmove further into the clip you see that the camera starts to pan off.

Now, let's play that in real- time from the middle of the clip.(Video Playing) Female Speaker: It has a nice smell.So it's nice to include her saying.It has a nice smell.You might be able to use that in the story, find a good place for it, butyou're certainly not going to want to use the portion where the camera pans offinto the sky.(Video Playing)So, let's reject that portion.Another way you can reject is simply to mark an in by pressing the letter I, andnow I'm going to press the Delete key to reject it, and notice that portion isnow gone from this clip's representation.

It's not gone from the clip but just the representation.Why?Because we have Hide Rejected on.So, now we'll just start playing from the middle.(Video Playing) Female Speaker: It has a nice smell.Diana Weynand: Perfect!Okay, so another thing that we can use the rating system for is to start tobreak up things like your interviews into portions that you think you wantto use.For example, this clip of Paul has a little bit about the risk-taking.(Video Playing) Paul: were there if you focus on people.If you focus on product, then the risk was incredible,the risk was a seventy five thousand dollar risk.

Diana Weynand: Well you see that little dip in the audio waveform is where he stopstalking and I'm just going to press O to set an out point, and that gives mea range selection, and rather than reject that I'm going to make that part afavorite, because I know I'm going to want to use Paul talking about risksomewhere in this story.I don't know where yet, and guess what, I don't have to know where, but bymaking that part a favorite, I can then filter out everything but thefavorite portions.So now I have basically --(Video Playing) Paul: so what was the risk?There was no risk. It was clear. It was clear that all the piecesof the puzzle were there if you focus on people.

If you focus on product, then the risk was incredible,the risk was a seventy five thousand dollar risk.Diana Weynand: So this gives me a clip that's ready to go and ready to be edited, but again, youdon't have to know exactly where you're going to edit it.Now, another way you can use the rating system is to -- and this is interestingbecause I clicked on Narration and I see no clips appear, but that's because I'mviewing it by Favorites.If I go back to All Clips, I'll see all my Narration clips appear again.I want to take a look at VO_08.Let's listen to this.

(Audio Playing) Narrator: We delight in the smell of the brew.We drink it to start the day. When we meet friends. Diana Weynand: Well, what you can see is that there are three distinct statements that thenarrator makes about the coffee.So, listen again.(Audio Playing) Narrator: We delight in the smell of the brew.Diana Weynand: So, we delight in the smell of the brew, that's one thought.(Audio Playing) Narrator: We drink it to start the day.Diana Weynand: We drink coffee to start the day.Does that give your mind some ideas? Did you even think in terms of a sunrisepicture with that rooster in the background that we might have available?(Audio Playing) Narrator: When we meet friends.

Diana Weynand: This might suggest a shot of being together and maybe even the coffee growerssitting around and drinking coffee together.But the point is that you might like each of these statements, but you may notlike them together in this timing and space.So if you choose to make a favorite from each group then that will give you, whenwe choose to view by Favorites, three distinct VO_08 clips, each one being aparticular sound bite.

(Audio Playing) Narrator: We delight in the smell of the brew.We drink it to start the day. When we meet friends. Diana Weynand: This gives you a tremendous amount of flexibility when you get ready to actuallyedit these clips into a project.So by rating clips you're making choices about what you most likely don't wantin your story, and what you're sort of sure you do want.You're responding to the story's call to action.

There are currently no FAQs about Effective Storytelling with Final Cut Pro X v10.0.9.

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